Seattle Pitch - Seattle v. Montreal

August 17, 1996

Seattle Sounders  2 - 0  Impact de Montreal
       (halftime  0 - 0)

Hoggan  (S) 62' - PK
Webber  (S) 83'

Seattle: Marcus Hahnemann, Neil Megson (74' Nate Daligcon), James Dunn, Billy Crook, Wade Webber, Doug Morrill, Dick McCormick, David Hoggan, Joey Leonetti, Jason Dunn (65' Niall Thompson), Jason Farrell (88' John Cowmey).

Montreal: Paolo Ceccarelli, Rudy Doliscat, Jason Devos, Carl Fletcher, Patrick Diotte, Lyndon Hooper, John Limniatis, Kevin Holness (70' Lloyd Barker), Mauro Biello, Eddy Berdusco, Onandi Lowe.

Cautions:
25' Seattle: Hoggan (for leaping to play the ball, but kneeing Hooper in the face in the process)
40' Montreal: Devos (for pulling Jason Dunn down)
47' Seattle: McCormick (for tripping Lowe from behind)
61' Montreal: Fletcher (for pushing McCormick down from behind)
78' Seattle: Thompson (for a hard charge in retaliation)
90' Montreal: Doliscat (for giving the referee an earful)

          Seattle   Montreal
Offside:     1          1
Fouls:      21         10
Corners:     8          2
Shots:      15          9
Saves:       5          8

Reporting from section 5, Mark Coker:
This was your basic Seattle-Montreal match. Lots of hard play on both sides and lots of whining from Montreal coach Gazzola. The biggest difference was that there were TWO goals scored! The Sounders got the first when McCormick was brought down just inside the area. The official didn't hesitate to point to the spot. He received a mess o'grief from the Impact players (some folks say the official was backhanded by one of the Montrealers--I didn't see it). New signing Dave Hoggan cashed in the PK. Wade Webber got the second off a corner kick from Nate Daligcon. Montreal's love affair with the official didn't stop with the final whistle--one of their players had to be restrained by two teammates to prevent a run on the official.

So ends our series this season with the table toppers. Four matches: 2 wins, 2 shootout losses (where neither side deserved a win), 3 goals for and NONE AGAINST.

Kinda wish we'd finish fourth just so we can draw Montreal. At this point I'd rather play them then either Colorado or Vancouver.

The Ron Stickney Account(tm):
In a game as physical as a Nike commercial, the Seattle Sounders scored two second half goals to defeat the Montreal Impact 2-0. Seattle shut out Montreal for the season, blanking the Impact in all four games. Previously, Seattle beat Montreal 1-0, while Montreal won two shootouts that followed scoreless draws.

In his second game back from retirement, Sounders midfielder David Hoggan scored the first goal from a penalty kick. Wade Webber added the insurance goal, heading in Hoggan's corner kick. Seattle played intensely the whole game, outshooting Montreal in both halves and giving Montreal few good chances.

The first half saw both sides attacking with speed and applying intense pressure on defense. Both teams earned a few good chances before halftime, but neither could finish.

Jason Dunn took the game's first shot at 5', an 18-yard blast from Joey Leonetti's deflected cross, but the shot curled wide. Montreal's first shot came at 15' from a free kick, caught by Marcus Hahnemann.

Midway in the half, Hoggan's long Seattle free kick was headed across by Neil Megson, then headed on goal by Jason Dunn, and saved by Paolo Ceccarelli. For Montreal, Eddy Berdusco's feint earned him a shot, blasted just wide left. For Seattle, Leonetti squeezed between two defenders with the ball and gained a 15-yard shot, but Ceccarelli stuck out his foot to block.

Seattle defender and captain Billy Crook overlapped on the left and sent in a dangerous cross that Ceccarelli got a hand on, but couldn't control. The ball fell behind Leonetti, but he couldn't find it in time. From a Jason Dunn throw-in, Megson headed just wide left. Leonetti got a nice 15-yard shot from Dick McCormick's diagonal feed, but shot straight at Ceccarelli. Jason Farrell dropped to Hoggan near the left corner of the area, but Ceccarelli caught Hoggan's shot at the near post.

Montreal's best shot came late in the half when Onandi Lowe shot a free kick hard at the lower right corner, but Hahnemann dove to make the save.

An action-packed first half, but scoreless at 45'.

The second half was dominated by Seattle until late in the game. At 40' Farrell took a couple of shots, just missing from a Hoggan cross, and later juggling the ball before launching a 20-yard shot that was saved by Ceccarelli. Doug Morrill's 20-yard shot from the right was saved. Hoggan's corner kick had to be pushed over by Ceccarelli for a save.

Seattle's lucky break came at 61' when McCormick, chasing a through pass that would have given him a shot or a cross, was tripped from behind by Carl Fletcher and went down hard just inside the area. The referee immediately pointed to the spot, then called Fletcher over to receive a yellow card. Hoggan converted the penalty shot, shooting right while Ceccarelli dove the other way.

The most entertaining caution of the night was awarded to ex-Montreal forward Niall Thompson, who was knocked down behind the referee's back, then retaliated by charging 50 yards to knock down the Montreal player with the ball right in front of the Montreal bench. After receiving the yellow card, Thompson got in the face of his ex-coach, Valerio Gazzola, and yelled at him.

With 10 minutes left in the half, Montreal finally started earning some good chances to tie the game. Mauro Biello rolled a nice cross for Onandi Lowe to shoot from 10 yards, but Hahnemann slid down to block with his legs. Carl Fletcher headed a long throw-in just over an open goal after Hahnemann had come out but failed to reach the ball.

At 83' defender Webber, positioned by the near post, headed Hoggan's corner kick sharply inside the far post to put Seattle up comfortably 2-0.

Montreal's last good chance came when a corner kick found its way through the crowd in front of the goal and Rudy Doliscat, playing garbage collector, blasted a shot that looked like it would make it past the near post, but Hahnemann dove there in time to push the ball out and keep his net clean for a fourth consecutive shutout.

Doliscat earned a yellow card for something he said to the referee in the final minute. Then he needed to be restrained by a teammate as he was getting his money's worth yelling at the referee after the final whistle. I'm not sure what his beef was.